I'm going to plant seeds into my 'over the balcony railing' planters asap now. I have 4 of them, each 24"length x 7"width x 6" for root depth. I've measured, and I know that I can move them into my little greenhouse at night if necessary. I've bought Lavatera, Candytuff, and Portulaca. I'll also have some sweet peas in there, and a few English Ivy vines. I'm hoping that will be enought to make them nice and full, with some of these plants creating that 'falling over the side of the planter' effect that I love. I've been trying to sprout sweet potatoe vines for them too - one of my sprouting sweet potatoes looks really good, with noticeable sprout growth from day to day, so it will go in one of these containers too. I've seen teeny tiny sprouts on 2 others, but not much is happening since I spotted them... so we'll see.

Would you experienced gardeners please comment on whether these plants are all suitable for a container of this size, and whether they should all be ok together insofar as sun requirements, watering, etc. is concerned?

My balcony has eastern exposure, so they get direct sun from about 7am through to noon.

Also - would it work if I put saran wrap over the containers for the first little while after planting the seeds, and put them on top of my stove under the light in the hood? I did that with the flats I planted earlier this year and it worked well and seemed to speed up the germination process. (I sat the trays on an upside down plastic clothes hamper to raise it closer to the light).

Eeyore wrote:With eastern exposure you will be getting cool morning sun and very little afternoon sun. Is that correct? Do you get at least 6 hours of sun daily?

Portulaca likes hot and dry, I don't think it will do well on the east side. I'm also not sure Lavatera will do very well. It really needs room for roots. 6" is too shallow I think.

If you have 6 hours of sun, the sweetpeas should be OK. I thing the ivy and Candytuft should do fine.

I get almost exactly 6 hours of direct sun - sunrise through until about 1pm, then gradually going into shadow. I was reading more about the Lavatera this afternoon, and suddenly realized how high it grows... I think I'd better put it in a different container with more depth, which will also allow for it's root growth. As for Portulaca... I used to grow it in an extremely hot and sunny southern exposure, and realize it likes a lot of sun. I was hoping 6 hrs/day would suffice.

Good thing I'm growing a lot of sweet peas!!!! I love them anyway - and they scent the air so beautifully.

It seems like I need another couple of flowers to replace the Lavatera and Portulaca. Can you suggest any that might be nice?? (I may just wait and add some Lobelia plants direct from the nursery in a few weeks.)I think that would be enough to fill everything up nicely.

Lobelia is lovely and should do well. It actually prefers to be kept a bit cooler so 6 hours of morning sun should suit it well. I had some mini snap dragons in a hanging basket last year and they were awesome! I don't h=know the proper name but possibly "Actinus"? Petunias would do well too, I particularily like the little ones, Million Bells or Calibrocha.

LynAB, Zone 3A----------------------------------“Those who say it can't be done are usually interrupted by others doing it.” ` James Arthur Baldwin"

Eeyore wrote:Lobelia is lovely and should do well. It actually prefers to be kept a bit cooler so 6 hours of morning sun should suit it well. I had some mini snap dragons in a hanging basket last year and they were awesome! I don't h=know the proper name but possibly "Actinus"? Petunias would do well too, I particularily like the little ones, Million Bells or Calibrocha.

That's a good idea. And I think I'll go with Lobelia. Thanks again for your input.... much appreciated.